Tim Price Bloggin' For Rico...The Mysticism of Sound and Music / What A Wonderful World.

The Mysticism of Sound and Music/ What A Wonderful World....Tim Price Blog For Rico Reeds.

This book is a compilation of the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Born in India, Khan was a firm believer that life responds to sound as vibration. All else flows from this.

The book contains chapters on topics such as: the music of the spheres, color and sound, music in Indian culture, music of the dervishes, dance and music, music and psychology, the healing powers of music, memory, will, reason, intuition and dreams, the Ego, inspiration, and the value of repetition. FWIW- Khan did not write these selections as a book; instead, they were collected and organized from various lectures and articles that he prepared dating from about 1913 to 1926. The editors have managed to create a cohesive text from very disparate sources. Some ideas are presented repeatedly, but unlike so many similar compilations of articles by other authors, the presentation of Khan's ideas in this book are consistent each time they are mentioned.

I picked up this book because align with many other books musicians talked about be it Hindemith's theory of harmony or The Horn by John Clellon Holmes..this book by Khan seemed fascinating. When I first read it a few decades ago, I loved the content but some went by me.

There is a picture on the cover of Khan playing the vina. Reading this book has given me a much greater understanding of and appreciation for how music is central to Indian practices and beliefs. Which many esoteric musician authors draw from,the book is full of little surprises, it is an insightful study into the spiritual meaning of music.

It is wonderful book that should be read by any musician and/or student of music.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL YOU READING THIS BLOG- ENJOY THIS GREAT WEATHER.

Till next week-

I quote the great LOUIS ARMSTRONG –“What a Wonderful World”.

~ Tim Price